Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)(51)

Kylie grinned. "I think he's over it."

"I'd still avoid him for a few days if I were you," Della suggested. "I mean, did you see how mad he was when you turned him back?" She grinned. "Though not as mad as I'd have been. I swear, if it'd been me, I'd have hopped all over your ass, right after I'd kangaroo-punched Clark out. But damn, it was funny seeing Burnett hopping mad."

"I didn't mean to do it," Miranda said. "I wasn't even going for a kangaroo."

"What were you going for?" Kylie asked.

"A cockatoo. I guess I said it wrong." She pursed her lips as if thinking. "But hey, at least I figured out how to turn him back. I should get some credit for that."

"Credit?" Della snickered. "If you hadn't been able to change him back, I have a feeling you'd be kangaroo food right about now."

Miranda sighed.

Kylie decided to change the subject and looked at Della. "So what happened with the pact?"

Della frowned. "Let's just say it didn't work out as well for us. But forget about us. How did things go with Lucas? I saw you two went outside for a while."

Kylie bit down on her lip, unsure how much she wanted to share. "It went good."

"How good?" asked Miranda, never one to appreciate privacy. The little witch even rubbed her hands together in giddy anticipation.

"Really good," Kylie answered, remembering how it had felt to dance with Lucas-to kiss him as if they had all night. The memory chased away some of the ghostly chill prickling her bare arms. Kylie glanced around again to make sure Jane Doe hadn't manifested.

"Good as in first base? Second base?" Miranda's hazel eyes got big. "Or are we talking third?"

"We just kissed." Remembering their accusation that she was up for sainthood, Kylie added, "And slow danced in the moonlight. It was very romantic."

"Romantic or sexy?" Della asked. "There's a difference, you know."

Kylie frowned. "No, there's not."

"Oh yes, there is," Della smarted off. "Romantic is ... 'Oh, he's so sweet,' and sexy is ... 'He's so hot, my panties might just catch fire.' So which was it? Romantic or sexy?"

"Panties catch fire?" Kylie rolled her eyes.

"It's just an expression, but you know what I mean," Della insisted. "So which was it? Romantic?" She held out one hand. "Or sexy?" She held out the other.

Kylie considered the question and then admitted the truth. "It was both."

Miranda squealed. "Was it as hot as the kiss at the creek he gave you?"

Kylie remembered being at the creek with Lucas over a month ago. She'd fallen on top of him and they had kissed. Kissed deeply while the cold, crisp water ran over them and Lucas's hot body pressed against hers. And she decided Della might have a point about the difference between sexy and romantic. The kiss at the creek had been sexy. Tonight had been ... well, more romantic, but still sexy.

"You know, you guys have to start having your own romantic escapades. I'm tired of being the only one sharing this stuff."

"We're working on it," Miranda said, and shrugged. "So? Give us more details. Was tonight as hot as the famous creek kiss?"

Socks waddled out of her bedroom and came and bumped his pointed nose against her ankle. "Not quite as hot," Kylie said, reaching down to pick him up. She pulled the little skunk close and nuzzled his nose. "But almost."

Remembering just how "almost as hot" tonight had been, Kylie looked at her two best friends and wondered if they might know the answer to the question she planned on asking Lucas later. "How much do you guys know about werewolves and their powers?"

"I know they're not nearly as powerful as vampires," Della piped up.

"I'm not talking physical strength. Other kinds of power."

"What other kinds of power?" asked Della.

Kylie tried to figure out how to put it. "The power to persuade a girl to do things?"

"Things? What kind of things?" Della glanced at Miranda, whose eyes grew round. "Do you mean...?" They both turned back to Kylie.

"Okay, spill it," Della said. "Just what the hell happened out in the moonlight?"

"Yeah," Miranda added. "And don't leave out a single juicy detail."

Chapter Seventeen

Kylie felt her cheeks begin to redden. "Okay, it's not what you think...."

Even as she said the words, she knew she was lying.

"Okay, fine," she said. "It's exactly what you think."

Miranda's mouth dropped open. "You mean ... Did you-"

"No." Kylie slapped her hand against her chest. "God, no. I mean, like I told you, we just danced and kissed. But..."

"But what?" Della demanded.

"Yeah," Miranda said. "But what?"

Kylie took a deep breath. "But ... he said something that made me think that maybe he had the ability to convince me to, you know." She blushed again.

"Do the horizontal bop?" Della offered. "Do the Humpty dance? Knock boots?"

Kylie rolled her eyes. "Where do you come up with that stuff?"